Saturday, April 9, 2011

Indiana: Barely two weeks after the shooting, however, Governor Mitch Daniels (R-Ind.) signed into law a measure that does the opposite—bans employers from telling workers that they can't have guns in their cars.

It should be pointed out that the main industry in Indiana is meth production.

More:

Workplaces that allowed guns were about five times more likely to experience a homicide as those where all weapons were banned, concludes a May 2005 report in the American Journal of Public Health that analyzed North Carolina employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says workplace shootings caused 420 deaths in 2009 and 421 in 2008.

Although bringing a gun to work doesn't create more jobs--it apparently does create more job openings.

A suspected burglar was fatally shot at 1:30 p.m. Monday at a residence in the 3800 block of East J Street in Tacoma, according to Mark Fulghum, spokesman for the Tacoma Police Department.

A man who lived at the residence told police he heard people at the door, then locked himself in an upstairs bedroom, Fulghum said.

The suspects broke in through a sliding-glass door in the back. When one suspect climbed the stairs and was on the other side of the bedroom door, the resident fired multiple rounds through the door, hitting the suspect multiple times, Fulghum said. The suspect died on the scene.

Police have another suspect in custody.

The man inside the residence said he thought he saw three suspects through a window, but the status of a possible third suspect is unknown.

I wish I could ask Farago's Armed Intelligentsia what they think about this. Is locking oneself in an upstairs bedroom at 1:30 in the afternoon when hearing noises part of the home defense plan? What about shooting blindly through the door?

It sounds to me like the homeowner should be in custody. What do you think?

The "spinning" aspect of his post is in limiting it to "accidental deaths." That covers virtually all motor vehicle deaths but only a tiny percentage of gun deaths.

In fact every category on the list is like that. Although there are murders and suicides involving suffocation and poison, for example, the percentage is extremely low, as it is with cars. Firearms are the only category on the list about which this isn't true. In fact overall gun deaths would come in a close second to those of motor vehicles.

Wouldn't this make for a good argument in FAVOR of gun control? Rather than harming the gun control argument by highlighting how few "accidental deaths" there really are, doesn't the true picture cry out for better controls and regulations?

The question to ask in Libya as in Egypt and other Arab countries is who’s better armed? The individual citizens or the army? Whose doing most of the killing? What if the standing national army (Militia) is the organization doing the killing and committing the crimes? Right now in Libya the arming of “INDIVIDUALS” is critical……these Individuals are armed and forming militias … SOUND FAMILIAR?

In one sentence he says the standing national army IS the militia and in the next that the citizens are forming militias to fight them.

The conclusion of his article is equally bizarre.

Unfortunately, many misguided governments (Local, State and Federal) along with some very un-informed politicians the 2nd Amendment which clearly states that Individuals have the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”……is CONSTANTLY and PERPETUALLY being regulated with law after law after law.

I am afraid that we are NO LONGER the HOME of the FREE……but HOME of the ENSLAVED.

We as Americans are quickly loosing our constitutional rights and as a country are so in DEBT that we are enslaved to the spending of our failed political system that has driven us to Bankruptcy!!

First of all I thought the gun-rights movement was winning. Isn't that what they usually claim? And secondly, what's he really talking about here the debt and bankruptcy problem or the rebels with guns in the Middle East.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Gun Laws are not the problem in Arizona. We have more good guys with guns here than bad guys! That is how it should be! The problem is careless and uneducated gun owners. I would say the majority of people that live in states like Arizona are gun savvy and aware of how you should store your gun. It is very sad that this happened, but gun laws would not change a damn thing about it. Except when gang bangers or other unlawful gun owners have kids visit or live in their homes they would have to ask that the guns be locked up, good luck with that! It is our right as Americans to protect ourselves and our families with whatever means necessary, education is a means, so is vigilance.

I responded:

Anonymous, Thanks for visiting this old post and sharing your ideas.

I respectfully disagree with the part about laws not being helpful in stopping things like this.

This part I found interesting.

It is our right as Americans to protect ourselves and our families with whatever means necessary, education is a means, so is vigilance.

I would agree that we all have the right to use education and vigilance to protect our families, but not guns. In spite of what the Supreme Court said recently, I don't think gun ownership is an individual "right." That's not to say guns should illegal and banned, not at all. I just don't accept the 2nd Amendment arguments for justifying gun ownership.

All they are saying is give peace a chance.
A nonpartisan and independent think tank in the nation's capital has crunched reams of data and says that Minnesota ranks among the most "peaceful" states in the union.
The "United States Peace Index," released Thursday by the Institute for Economics and Peace, ranked the states based on five "absence of violence" indicators based on statistics collected by the federal government: homicides, violent crimes, percentage of population incarcerated, number of police officers and availability of small arms. (underline, my emphasis added - DG)
Leading the way in peacefulness, according to the institute, is Maine. Next are: New Hampshire, Vermont, Minnesota, North Dakota, Utah, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Iowa and Washington.
At the other end of the list, Louisiana brings up the rear at 50th.
The institute says that New York, California and Texas have been getting more peaceful since 1991, while North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana saw the largest declines.
The index found that a state's ranking is strongly connected to factors such as high school graduation rates, infant mortality, access to basic services, employment, poverty and teen pregnancy. But factors such as median income and a state's partisan political leanings had no discernible impact on a state's peacefulness, the institute added.
In presenting its findings, the institute said that a more peaceful nation could save many billions of dollars and create more than 2.5 million jobs.
For more information, visit http://www.visionofhumanity.org/.

I like Walsh's writing in the STrib; but it made a particularly interesting contrast with this story in the same edition, in part also written by Walsh:

The well-dressed man waved down the Red and White Taxi cab at a major intersection in south Minneapolis early Thursday and gave the driver an apparently bogus address in the north metro.
It was about 5 a.m. He smelled of alcohol but didn't appear drunk, said Pat White, general manager of Red and White Taxi. The driver thought the man looked like a professional going home after a late night at the office, but in minutes the cabdriver had a gun pressed against his head. The suspect ordered the cabdriver out of the car and then led authorities on a 40-minute chase across the metro before being shot and killed by police.
Authorities provided few details about the case, declining to discuss a possible motive or the last moments of the pursuit in which the suspect faced off with six law enforcement officials on northbound Interstate 35E just south of Forest Lake.
It's unclear how many of the officers fired their guns and whether the suspect fired his gun or threatened the officers.
Dave Bjerga, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said authorities would not reveal much more until the officers -- three State Patrol troopers, two Brooklyn Park police officers and one Minneapolis police officer -- were interviewed.
"There's a lot of information that needs to be collected here, and in fairness of everyone involved in this incident, we need to make sure that the information is accurate and complete," he said.
Authorities are reviewing camera footage taken from squad cars.
The suspect's identity has not been released, pending an autopsy and notification of relatives. An ambulance carrying his body left the scene of the shooting about 10 a.m. as investigators searched the area for evidence, closing the northbound lanes of I-35E until early afternoon.
No one else was injured.
According to White: The cabdriver grew suspicious of the suspect because he knew the address was fake. The driver asked the suspect how he intended to pay, and the suspect said with a credit card. They were in the Lowry Tunnel on Interstate 94 when the suspect then suddenly pressed a gun to the driver's head, ordered him out, robbed him and took off in the cab.
"He told him to get out of the car or he was going to kill him," White said.
Authorities pursued the suspect across the metro until the stolen cab hit spike strips authorities had laid across I-35E at 80th Street in Columbus, sending it into a ditch. Police shot and killed the man while approaching the vehicle, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
A gun allegedly used by the suspect was recovered at the scene.
Authorities said the pursuit reached high speeds but declined to say how fast.
"We are fortunate, and in fact the public is very fortunate," that no one was hurt, Bjerga said. "It's quite a lengthy chase."
The cabdriver, who has been with Red and White for a few months, is doing fine, White said.
"He was in very good shape physically and mentally," White said. "He did everything right. He was calm and collected."
The driver, a Minneapolis man in his early 30s who was not identified, spent the day at home after the incident but planned to return to work Friday, White said.
All of Red and White Taxi's 52 cabs have an emergency button that when pressed freezes all computer screens at the company's Franklin Street office, warning of a "driver emergency." The cab's location is also mapped automatically so dispatchers can call for help. The carjacking Thursday occurred so quickly that the driver did not have time to react, White said.
The officers were placed on standard administrative leave, which is routine practice.

We here in MN may be one of the 'safer' states, but it seems to me we still have quite a lot of gun violence in comparison to other places - say the UK - in comparison. I found it interesting that availability of small arms was a factor considered for the first article. It does seem that countries with less availability also do have less gun violence... and not a big increase in other forms of violence in compensation for the lower availability of fire arms. Reducing fire arms does seem to be a factor in reducing violence (especially from fire arms).

It is not a desirable 'freedom' to have more violence, and more weapons. It is just stupid.

A 22-year-old western New York man will spend up to seven years in state prison for what a judge called a "bizarre" accidental shooting that left a teenage girl paralyzed and unable to eat or talk.

State Supreme Court Justice Penny Wolfgang sentenced Greyler Williams of Depew for assault Wednesday. Williams pleaded guilty for the early morning incident at a home where he and Jalisa Goodman were visiting on Halloween night.

Tiera Goodman told the judge her now-14-year-old sister is in a nursing home and faces a fourth round of surgery as doctors try to remove bullet fragments from her neck. She was struck when the handgun Williams was playing with fired in an adjacent room.

The Buffalo News reports that Williams apologized to the victim's family in court.

What's your opinion? Is that a fair sentence? Do you think it's right to increase the punishment depending on the damage done? If someone dies or is paralyzed, a jail sentence like this, and if no one is hurt, just a slap on the wrist?

Here's my idea. According to the MikeB is King rule, formerly known as the one-strike-you're-out rule, no one does more than ten days in jail for accidents unless it's the second or third time. But guns are confiscated and gun rights are forfeited forever. Officers of the court will make periodic home-visits to ensure compliance.

Now you tell me, would that cut down on negligent stupidity with guns, or not?

A gunman roamed the halls of an elementary school in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday and killed 12 children, lining them up against a wall and shooting them in the head at point-blank range as he shouted, "I'm going to kill you all!"

It was the worst school shooting in Brazil — and would have been deadlier if the gunman had not been shot in the legs by a police officer, who said the man then fell down some stairs and shot himself in the head.

It can happen anywhere. One response is to encourage more good people to carry guns in order to intervene quicker. Another response is to make it harder for dangerous people to get guns in the first place.

A new poll out of Mississippi finds that in a bastion of America's south, many Republican voters have tightly held onto the old, hateful views of race as a dividing line in society.

A full 46 percent of Mississippi Republicans said they believe interracial marriage should be illegal, according to the left-leaning survey group Public Policy Polling. Only 40 percent said they thought it should remain legal, with the rest unsure.

UPDATE: Another poll was conducted, asking these 46% of Republicans if they would like to see better gun control laws. Every one said, "Hell, no."

I made that part up, but what do you think? Is that about right? Would the same folks who want to ban certain types of marriages vehemently oppose even common sense gun restrictions? You betcha.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Laura Zuckerman – Thu Apr 7, 10:56 am ET

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – A chain of electronic stores in parts of the states of Idaho and Montana are offering free guns to first-time subscribers of satellite TV services.The new promotions by combination RadioShack and Dish Network dealerships in western Montana and another in southwest Idaho have attracted crowds that range from the merely curious to the firearm-friendly.John Marshall, owner of a RadioShack store in Mountain Home, Idaho near Boise, said the flagging economy was behind the program he began advertising this week."There's no problem with it here; this isn't New York City," he said about a gun giveaway that has sparked criticism on blogs by gun-control advocates elsewhere.Under the arrangement, new subscribers to a Dish Network package are given a coupon for $135 to purchase a single-shot shotgun at a local sporting goods store.The guns-for-subscriptions offer is the brainchild of Steve Strand, owner of a RadioShack store in Montana's Bitterroot Valley.Strand said the promotional campaign he crafted last fall has proved a sure-fire strategy to target satellite subscribers in a region that favors firearms. Subscriptions for Dish Network packages have increased threefold since he began offering freebies on pistols or shotguns.Strand said women make up the majority of his growing customer base."All I can tell you is, grandma is packing a gun in Montana," he said.A RadioShack official questioned the promotion but the corporation has not prohibited it by franchise owners like Strand."I might not even consider such a program if I were in Detroit city but we have a different demographic out here," Strand said.(Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Tim Gaynor)

A Katy ISD [Independent School District] high school student brought a loaded weapon onto the campus and showed it to other students, authorities said.

The incident happened about 1 p.m. Tuesday at Mayde Creek High School, 19202 Groschke. The student, who has not been identified, kept the gun in a backpack and was showing it off to other students in a restroom.

The school sent a letter home to parents notifying them about the incident.

In addition to any criminal charges the student now faces, bringing a weapon onto campus is grounds for expulsion, Katy ISD officials said.

They sent a LETTER home to the parents, are you kidding me? Wouldn't a squad car to arrest the parents and older siblings until their involvement can be determined, have been better? Are gun rights in Texas so sacred that we ignore the possible involvement of the dad? Isn't that where most adolescents in the Lone Star State learn about the gun culture, that guns are cool, that you can impress your friends in school with them?

Pro gun extremists are all for individual responsibility except when it reflects upon them and their gun rights. The family that raises kids to love guns and to disregard laws they don't like should be punished, in addition to the kid. Families like that have proven they are incapable of responsibly owning guns and should cease to own them.

A Miami-Dade police detective shot and killed the driver of a car that officers were attempting to pull over after shots were fired from the vehicle.

Officials say someone from the vehicle fired an assault weapon in the direction of the officer as both vehicles were traveling along a Miami street about 10 p.m. Tuesday. The driver and the detective both stopped, exited their vehicles and exchanged gunfire.

Police say 24-year-old Jamal T. Singletary was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

The detective was not injured, and his name has not been released.

Police say they were pulling the car over because it had a stolen tag and had been driving erratically.

Where do you think all those guns in Miami are coming from? I don't think there being smuggled in from New York or Boston, do you? Could they be coming from FFL gun dealers who fail to do proper due diligence, like we see from time to time? What about from the theft of weapons not properly secured and stored by their lawful owners? That's a good source too.

Sunday afternoon John Garcia and his family were having lunch at Garcia’s Restaurant. Mr. Garcia was open carrying a handgun inside the restaurant. A man now known to be Mr. Christopher Torres, who has an alleged history of “mental issues” walked in to the store.

Mr. Torres observed the firearm on Mr. Garcia’s hip, then announced he was a DEA (Drug Enforcement) Agent, and stated he had evidence that Mr. Garcia was going to rob the restaurant.

Mr. Torres then attacked Mr. Garcia, hitting him and trying to remove the firearm from the holster. The firearm fell to the floor where an uninvolved party picked it up and placed it in the manager’s office.

Mr. Torres was arrested for “several felony charges”, and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Mr. Garcia (Victim) was also arrested as he took his firearm into a licensed liquor establishment which is a felony in New Mexico.

It certainly wasn't Mr. Garcia's fault if Mr. Torres attacked him for nothing. And, shouldn't the concept of Constitutional Carry over-ride any silly laws about exactly where you can take your gun? (/sarcasm)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Joe Huffman posted a little story about a sorority which raised money for the Brady Campaign. It, and some of the predictable comments, inspired me to comment like this.

It's not enough for gun control advocates to not buy guns themselves. The whole point is to prevent others who are unfit to responsibly handle gun ownership to not be able to buy them. Why do you guys always morph that into taking your rights away? It's nothing of the sort. Most gun control folks, myself included, have no problem with lawful and responsible gun ownership. I realize you object to the government deciding who qualifies, but how the hell else can we do it. You've not been doing too good a job policing yourselves and keeping all those guns among the law abiding. With your lax gun laws and your wrong-headed attitudes about guns you're continually feeding the criminal world with them. It needs to stop and the sorority sisters you mentioned are trying to help.

What do you think? Do the pro-gun guys purposely misunderstand what we're getting at? As soon as any gun control initiatives are mentioned, they start crying about losing their rights, as if the simplest restriction immediately leads to total gun bans.

Police found Snyder's body two days later along a tree line near Schnecksville, doused with bleach, wrapped in an Eagles fleece blanket, and sealed in duct-taped garbage bags. More than two months pregnant, she had been shot once through her back and abdomen, and twice more by a gun stuck into her mouth.

First, gun-rights extremists say they are a responsible group, even more so than the police or the public at large. When presented with the dark doings of one of their own, they claim it's so rare as to be negligible. I don't think so.

Here's the story of a beauty of a gun owner, a married guy who killed his girlfriend because he was angry that she'd gotten pregnant. Guns are bad news for women, eh?

Showing up at the State Line Gun Shop in Mason, N.H., Markoff presented an ID that wouldn’t pass muster at a campus dive bar. The blond Markoff showed an old New York driver’s license belonging to Andrew H. Miller, who is dark-haired and heavier. Markoff explained the out-of-state license by claiming he had just enrolled at Daniel Webster College, in Nashua. The clerk responded by asking him to obtain a residency affadavit notarized by the city.

Markoff went to the city clerk’s office, wrote out a form in which he misspelled his own alias, and obtained the notarized record. No rent check, tuition payment, or utility bill was required; the city clerk later explained to investigators that no documentation is necessary for a notarized residency affidavit.

This is not the kind of due diligence one should expect from a gun shop. In fact, when there are such obvious indicators that everything is not on the up-and-up, the gun shop that agrees to sell is guilty of breaking federal law and should be shut down immediately.

Now, Brisman’s mother says she wants those responsible for Markoff’s obtaining the gun to be held accountable. The US attorney sees no grounds for a criminal case, because there was no intentional conduct. But the family could yet sue. New Hampshire jurors would then have to decide whether the state’s libertarian streak excuses a gun merchant’s decision to sell to a man with a patently fake ID.

What's your opinion? Is it too much to ask FFL gun dealers to maintain a strict standard of conduct? I don't think so, what do you think?

Stein, Sheriff Jeff Shipley and Deputy Casey Hinnah approached the home of Jeffrey Alan Krier, 53, near Sigourney shortly before noon Monday, officials said. When they arrived, Krier opened fire. Stein was hit and died of his wounds at the scene. Shipley and Hannah were unhurt.

A review of online court records of Krier discloses a violent history going back as far as 1996 when he was charged with stalking, carrying illegal weapons, driving with a suspended license and possession of a controlled substance. Records show that Krier was acquitted in 1997 by reason of insanity after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation at the Iowa state mental hospital in Independence.

Records also show that he was convicted in 1999 of assault on a police officer and served a 90-day jail sentence.

What's Krier sound like to you, a dangerous criminal or a typical gun owner? The pro-gun argument usually includes a dilineation between themselves and the criminals, which works pretty well when you're talking about crack dealers and inner-city gangbangers. But this was just a country boy who owned guns and didn't much care for the cops coming to knock at his door. In my book, that makes him all too representative of the gun owners of America who are fuelled in thier paranoia by extreme talk and exaggerated rhetoric.

Unfortunately, the story doesn't hold water, as researcher Chris Rodda ably points out at OpEdNews.

So Rodda, who has a background in genealogical research, decided to do a little digging. Without too much trouble, she found that Bachmann is actually a fourth-generation American, not seventh, as she claimed. And that's just the start.

Bachmann's immigrant ancestors didn't make a pilgrimage straight to the promised land of Iowa. From Quebec, they went to Wisconsin. That's where the 1860 census found them. From there, they moved to the Dakota Territory.

Why is this woman so popular? Do the Obama-haters fear a second term so badly that they've become even blinder than usual?

The question “why don’t more gun owners stay fit,” is a bit different than “why don’t more gun owners wear body armor.” But, the reasons why might be the same.

My idea is that since you guys are paranoid enough to carry guns when you don’t need them and take bizarre precautions to protect your homes, why not wear a vest at all times. The same logic applies. One bullet in the stomach or chest and you’re probably out of action and useless to protect yourself or your loved ones. As rare as that possibility is, the downside is so great, you need to do it. But you don’t. The reason is the fantasy. It just doesn’t include anything like taking a bullet in the vest and surviving to respond. It’s not a part of that Hollywood-inspired fantasy you all dwell in.

Staying fit is hard work and time consuming. Everyone knows he should do it, but few do. It’s laziness and maybe a type of false optimism that the heart attack and the clogged arteries won’t happen to me. But, above all, what enables so many gun owners to let themselves go so badly, the stereotype exists for a reason, is the fantasy. It’s the same fantasy in which running for your life or even running after a bad guy who’s getting away is not part of the scene you guys have in your heads.

Drawing the gun real fast, that’s part of it. Shooting and moving and shooting at another target and reloading to shoot some more, that’s all part of it. It’s the bang, man. Shooting those “bone cracker” .500s, that’s part of it, and automatic weapons, too. If you live up near Joe Huffman, it’s blowing shit up. But, staying fit doesn’t matter.

Cynthia Willis calls up and down the firing range to be sure everyone knows she is shooting, squares up in a two-handed stance with her Walther P-22 automatic pistol and fires off a clip in rapid succession.

Willis is not only packing a concealed handgun permit in her wallet, she also has a medical marijuana card. That combination has led the local sheriff to try to take her gun permit away.

She is part of what is considered the first major court case in the country to consider whether guns and marijuana can legally mix. The sheriffs of Washington and Jackson counties say no. But Willis and three co-plaintiffs have won in state court twice, with the state's rights to regulate concealed weapons trumping federal gun control law in each decision.

With briefs filed and arguments made, they are now waiting for the Oregon Supreme Court to rule.

When it's over, the diminutive 54-year-old plans to still be eating marijuana cookies to deal with her arthritis pain and muscle spasms, and carrying her pistol.

Marijuana cookies, are you kidding me? You know how long that stuff stays in your system? Gun owners should be clear-headed and sober, not stoned on pot or any other intoxicants.

Of course, if they deny guns to pot users, next will be anyone with a prescription for methadone, vicodin, oxycontin, oxycodone and all the rest. If this didn't make such good sense I'd think it was another gun-control conspiracy to get rid of all the guns.

35-year-old Brian Smith of Hankinson was shot by a 55-year-old man in the driveway of the man's home. He says the two didn't know one another beforehand, and there was an altercation before the shooting.

Leshovsky says the shooter claimed he was acting in self-defense, and was not immediately arrested.

The police said it was not gang related, but rather a dispute between recent residents of the neighborhood and those who'd lived there for many years. One thing for sure is there were plenty of guns to go around.

Basically what happened is this. The Cordoza brothers, who were the new arrivals to the neighborhood, went into a party and shot up the joint, killing one and seriously injuring two. As they were walking home, some guys from the party got in the car and went after them. They ran the Cordozas down and shot both of them killing one, before speeding off. The surviving Cordoza brother will be charged with murder when he recovers from his injuries.

Now, I only have one question. Do you think the guns used in this horrible incident were manufactured in someone's basement illegally? Or do you think they started out legally owned and somehow ended up in the hands of these gangsters?

I think it's the second, in spite of Zorroy's insistence that such homemade guns are available. I figure the guns were bought in a gun show in Nevada or through a straw purchase in San Bernadino, something like that. That's why we need stricter gun control laws, and that's why, to the never-ending whining of the pro-gun crowd, those laws need to be focused on the law abiding gun owners and gun sellers.

Gunloon prof, Eugene Volokh, cites the Daily Mail to repeat another favored gunloon meme--that the UK has outlawed self-defense. Per Volokh and the Daily Mail:Residents in Surrey and Kent villages have been ordered by police to remove wire mesh from their windows as burglars could be injured....Locals had reinforced their windows with wire mesh after a series of shed thefts but were told by community police officers that the wire was ‘dangerous’ and could lead to criminals claiming compensation if they ‘hurt themselves’....

As I've sagely noted, on many occasions, the Daily Mail isn't the most reliable of sources. This is no exception.But it turns out that the Surrey police don’t actually have a problem with wire mesh. On their web site they advise home owners to "Use a window lock on opening windows and a strong grille or heavy wire mesh." When I emailed them to ask about the news story they told me that wire mesh should be fitted on the inside of the window so that burglars can’t remove it.While wire mesh gets the thumbs up from police, there are some things they don’t recommend. For example, they generally advise homeowners not to use razor wire or broken glass because they could be sued if someone injured themselves — even if that person was injured while committing a burglary.

What people fail to understand is that every country has its tabloids--we have the National Enquirer and the World Weekly News. The UK has the Daily Mail.

Just another case of gunloons not having credible resources to back up their foolishness.

Monday, April 4, 2011

I found this movie to be a wonderful remake of the 1974 original. Its fast-paced action made for a thoroughly enjoyable time. The scene in which Denzel Washington's character is forced to admit that he had taken a bribe, for which he was being investigated, was one of the best. But, there was another impressive scene that caught my attention.

As the tension was building, police sharpshooters had taken up position in the subway tunnel. Their orders were to stand down and await further orders. One of them had a hijacker in his sights when a rat bit him on the leg causing him to fire his rifle, killing the bad guy "accidentally," and causing a firefight which neither side wanted to engage in. Obviously his finger had been on the trigger.

Is that standard operating procedure for snipers? Or is that sloppy irresponsible gun handling? What's your opinion?

The Truth About Guns is one of my favorite sites. It suddenly occurred to me that although Robert preaches such extreme practices as carrying a gun at all times, even home carry, and just today, electronic situational awareness, he doesn't seem to push for the use of body armor.

Why, I wondered.

Well, here's my theory. Guys like Robert, and many of his approximately 6,000 daily readers, are living in a fantasy world. In that world there's no room for the passive protection offered by a bullet-proof vest. Getting shot is not part of the deal. Their focus is on the more aggressive and active components of self-defense. They picture themselves pro-actively taking action. It's all about the guns, the bang, the power, the ability to be fearless.

On The Truth About Guns, I've seen every type of gun imaginable. I've read more about ammunition than I really need to know. But, unless I missed it, there's scarcely a mention of body armor.

What's your opinion? Is there a better explanation? I'd love to hear it.

I suppose the implication here is not so much that the State of New Hampshire has lax gun laws, which it certainly does, but that the State Line Gun Shop doesn't do enough to ensure the bona fides of its customers.

Markoff, living in Quincy, bought the 9mm pistol Feb. 23, 2009 at the State Line Gun Shop in Mason, N.H., using another man’s New York driver’s license and falsely saying he attended college in New Hampshire, according to reports from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives that were among the files released last week.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said Friday, “This is an example of how lax gun laws in New Hampshire can contribute to gun violence in Massachusetts.’’

He said the gun used to kill Brisman was among 105 firearms bought in New Hampshire and used in Massachusetts crimes in 2009.

Does it mean that New Hampshire gun shops can sell to out-of-state customers? Or was his verbally claiming to be a student in NH enough? Either way, it sounds lax to me.

Do you think the State Line Gun Shop in New Hampshire works like the State Line Casino in Nevada which is situated just across the California border? There, a service is provided for California residents which is denied them in their own state. Is that how it works on the border between New Hampshire and Massachusetts? Does that seem right to you?

No one disputes the fact that one cannot be punished for something he hasn't done yet, but stricter standards concerning misdemeanor domestic violence, road rage incidents and gun accidents would certainly remove guns from many of these people, and save lives.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The one I enjoyed the most was Herschel Walker. I wondered if he even needs a gun, he's one tough guy.

With a background in law enforcement, Walker is an avid shooter. The College Football Hall of Fame inductee from the University of Georgia, and 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, played for the USFL’s New Jersey Generals, NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. Now, at age 49, he is squaring off against opponents half his age in the Octagon for professional mixed martial art fights, has also tackled the Alaskan tundra in pursuit of brown bears.

Personally I think hunting is sick. I think the enjoyment therein is akin to that of the bully who takes advantage of the smaller and weaker in order to feel superior. But, I have much less a problem with it, than I do for say, the people who want to carry a gun at all times. That's another kind of sickness and one which affects more people.

I did want to say that it's refreshing to see that you've got a celebrity or two on your side. Of course you can't count the new generation of rappers and such, they don't inspire much responsible gun handling. But of the genuine celebrities, they're few and far between.

Same goes for academic people, university professors, and I suppose any other group of educated, intelligent people. Lawyers and doctors, for the most part want nothing to do with guns. Even politicians, who are often lawyers or otherwise educated, would almost all be against guns except for their needing to please the constituents.

And who exactly are those constituents? What exactly is your demographic? From which groups do you come? I realize it sounds terribly elitist, and I'm sure I'll be attacked viciously for it, but among the upper strata of American society, you guys draw very few. Think about it.

What's your opinion? Who actually makes up the rank and file of gun enthusiasts in America?

A showdown at a popular east Orange County biker bar — with its share of fights over the past few years — led to the stabbing of one man and a deputy killing a gunman Friday.

Few details about the shooting were released, but investigators said 31-year-old Jason L. Greene opened fire on deputies Daniel Shapiro and Hector López while they tended to a stabbing victim shortly before 3 a.m. at Betty's Laughing Horse Tavern in the 900 block of North Goldenrod Road.

Shapiro was saved by a bulletproof vest, an increasingly important law-enforcement tool amid a rising tide of violence against law-enforcement officers nationwide.

The bottom line is this, as long as America has the Second Amendment Right for it's citizens,we will continue to be a free country. If we let the UN go forward with their global disarmament policy, then America will become just another third world hell hole.

What could be simpler or more obvious than that, right? Well, unfortunately it's not quite that simple, and I suspect Mr. G knows that.

We've referred to this graph before, which I suppose is similar to the one referred to in the misleading post we're quoting from. The United States is the ONLY 1st-world, developed country in the top 20. (I guess you could debate Portugal).

Who would possibly think a valid conclusion could be drawn by comparing the "Leader of the Free World" with a bunch of backward, unstable shit-hole countries like that?

I'll tell you who, someone with a biased point of view to justify.

Please notice I put "Leader of the Free World" in quotation marks. In Mr. G's quote I would have used them on "will continue to be a free country," too. Gun availability in America militates against its being "a free country." More and more, ordinary citizens are constrained by law to walk among armed men while doing their shopping or taking the kids to school. These are men are generally inadequately trained and unfit to make the life-and-death decisions that can occur for those who carry guns. That's not freedom.

2 suffer noncritical injuries in north Minneapolis shooting

Two people suffered noncritical injuries Saturday evening in an apparent drive-by shooting in north Minneapolis.
Officers were called at about 5:20 p.m. to the intersection of 30th and Lyndale Avenues N., where they learned that the two had been shot, each in the wrist, a few blocks away at 30th and Aldrich Avenues N., before driving to the northern edge of Farview Park, according to police at the scene. The front and rear driver's side windows of the victim's car, a white Chevrolet Impala, appeared to have been shot out.
Sgt. Steve McCarty said one victim was taken by ambulance to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, while the other showed up at Hennepin County Medical Center in downtown Minneapolis. Their injuries were not life-threatening, he said.
There were no arrests, and no suspect information was immediately available.